Iranian nation progressing despite superpowers’ onslaught

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei met with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts on Thursday, describing the assembly as exceptional, very important and influential in determining the present and future of the country.

Emphasizing the need for the country’s officials to feel responsible toward people, especially with regard to issues of livelihood, the Leader noted, “We must bring more speed and prosperity to the pride-inspiring move [that has been going on] over the past four decades through incessant effort and objective demonstration of the impacts of the Economy of Resistance on people’s lives.”

Referring to the necessity of giving more depth and quality to the activities of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Khamenei read part of Imam Ali (PBUH)’s famous decree to his governor, Malik Ashtar, saying, “In this part of his decree, Amir al-Mo'menin (PBUH) [a nickname for Imam Ali (PBUH)] has emphasized that officials must have a conclusive reason before God and people for every one of their actions and words and even their silence, and must be able to answer [for what they do].”

The Leader said, “In addition to stressing the need for officials to have a conclusive reason before the Almighty God and people [for what they do], it has been stipulated in the words of Hadhrat Amir al-Mo'menin (PBUH) that officials should perform [their duties] in a way that would make people trust and love them and the effects of their measures must be observable and tangible on the ground.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then noted, “If the sense of responsibility among officials is such that they would be constantly concerned about doing work and making effort and moving toward goals and struggle, it proves that they are moving along the main lines of the Islamic government. However, if it is the opposite, we must see why we have gotten out of the frameworks of the Islamic government.”

The Leader then pointed to a marginal issue and added, “Some quasi-intellectuals talk in such a way that as if Western teachings are the origin and promoter of the sense of responsibility toward people, while social responsibility and the sense of responsibility before God and people is among Islamic fundaments of governance and [is among] teachings and concept of the Quran.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described “sense of responsibility among officials” as an “urgent, necessary and obligatory” matter and said, “We are seriously responsible with regard to cultural and livelihood problems of people and even if a single faithful youth, God forbid, is deviated from the [right] path due to our performance, we would be responsible.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei explained differences in viewpoints and ideas regarding major issues of the country and said it was possible for proponents of these different viewpoints to offer various arguments in favor of their views. The Leader added, “In such cases, the solution is to refer to fundaments and principles and indisputable ideas of the Islamic establishment and if an argument is compatible with those principles, it would be correct. Otherwise, it should be rejected.”

Emphasizing that indisputable ideas and principles of the Islamic establishment have been frequently explained in the words of the late Imam [Khomeini], the Leader said, “This is the reason behind my constant and frequent emphasis on [the need for] officials and people especially youths, to refer to the words and the last will and testament of the honorable Imam.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned “the realization of the Islamic commands even in a gradual form,” “not retracting from the implementation of the Islamic commands,” and “struggling against the global arrogance and not trusting it” as indisputable ideas of the Islamic establishment and noted, “‘Fighting against the arrogance and countering the international dictatorship and the domineering attitude of infidels toward the faithful’ are among unquestionable necessities of the Islamic establishment.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “Struggle does not simply mean military confrontation, but it has various cultural, theoretical, political and security dimensions and methods.”

“Being with people and trusting them,” “seeking justice,” “standing against oppression and corruption,” as well as “national self-confidence and national dignity” were among other fundaments and principles to which Ayatollah Khamenei pointed and said, “‘Feeling of cultural supremacy’, and ‘not feeling abject in the face of the foreign culture’ are among other fundaments and indisputable ideas of the [Islamic] establishment and we must not feel weak and abject in the field of culture, but must always have a sense of cultural superiority.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed out jihadi movement in all fields, including in the field of science and knowledge, as another fundament of the Islamic establishment and said, “‘Avoiding inclination toward aristocracy’ is another indisputable idea of the Islamic establishment, but unfortunately, one of the current problems in our society is an inclination toward flaunting [a lifestyle characteristic of] aristocracy even among middle and lower classes as a result of the performance of certain officials.”

The Leader said “feeling deep sympathy for lower classes” was another principle of the Islamic establishment and noted, “The most important duty of the Assembly of Experts is, first of all, to make sure about the existence of the aforesaid traits in the Leader and also [ensuring] their persistence.”
In another part of his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei said repetition of the phrase “Economy of Resistance” in the words of officials, experts, and scholars was a sign of accepting this theoretical framework and added, “The important point is that this framework must be realized in practice.”

Reminding the attendees that he had also put emphasis on the issue of the Economy of Resistance during the preceding Iranian year, the Leader said, “Since no desirable move was made [toward realization of the Economy of Resistance] during that year, I designated the [Iranian calendar] year 1395 (ends March 20, 2017) as [the year of] ‘Economy of Resistance, practical steps and action’.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then added, “Of course, executive officials have taken remarkable steps in this field, but this is only part of necessary steps [that must be taken].”

The Leader pointed out, “If all necessary steps with regard to the Economy of Resistance had been taken, today, we would have observed a tangible difference in the country’s economic conditions and people’s lives.”

“I have told the esteemed president that announcing promising large-scale indices is good, of course if those figures are not disputable, but at any rate, these [indices] do not affect the life and livelihood of people in short and medium terms,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution emphasized that there are ways to objectively affect people’s lives, adding, “People’s complaints and viewpoints of scholars are sent to me and with regard to such issues as production, employment, suppressing recession in the real sense of the word, smuggling as well as imports and exports we must act in such a way that people would totally feel its impact in their lives, but this is not the case right now.”

The Leader described “attracting foreign investment” as a positive step, but added, “So far, a small number of foreign agreements have been realized. Therefore, we must not remain idle hoping for and expecting their investment, but we must do inside the country what we can do by ourselves.”

Rounding up this part of his remarks, the Leader emphasized, “The Economy of Resistance, with its strong intellectual and theoretical fundaments, is the sole way for solving the country’s problems and it must be implemented.”

The third part of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s remarks in the meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts was about the quality and various aspects of the hostility of global hegemonic powers toward the Islamic establishment.

The Leader mentioned “the effort made by the Islamic establishment to realize the pure Mohammedan Islam” and “the huge and jihadi movement of the [Iranian] nation toward [Islamic] ideals” as the main causes of profound and all-out hostility of the arrogant powers towards the Islamic Republic and noted, “They are not against the rule of the clergy and implementing the apparent façade of the Islamic commands as long as it is not at odds with their interests, and this is why they have good relations with some countries that enjoy these characteristics.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned “saving the country from dependence on powers” and “blocking the way to their exploitation” of the country as some results of the gradual realization of the pure Islam in Iran, adding, “Even now, if we allow Americans to be in charge of everything in Iran, like they were in the monarchial era, and trust them, they would have no problem with the name of the ‘Islamic Republic’.”

Pointing to various degrees of the hostility of the global front of bullies toward Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “The hostility of America and the Zionist regime [toward Iran] is “extant and sharp and operational,” but some other [enemies] do not clearly show this animosity in their words and deeds due to [considerations that they have about] their interests.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said citing reliable information as well as security and political issues, extreme economic pressure, and widespread, but silent, onslaught in the area of culture as the main axes of the enemy front’s plans and operations and added, “Their main goal is to make people desperate about the Islamic establishment and strip officials of this basic source of support in their resistance against the enemy.”

Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned “strong, aggressive and logical confrontation” with the enemy as the basic way of thwarting plans and conspiracies of the arrogant front, adding, “In all fields, including in the field of human rights, terrorism and war crimes, we must adopt an aggressive stance in the face of the West.”

The Leader then scoffed at recent severe criticism of elections in Iran by the United States and noted, “Americans, who are engaged in friendly cooperation with the most evil and most inhuman regional regimes and caused this huge scandal in their recent [presidential] election, attack and criticize elections held by the Iranian nation.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then pointed out, “Despite an incessant onslaught by all superpowers and the empire of the Zionist media, the Iranian nation has progressed in all fields after the revolution.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Even in the field of culture, which is a cause of sensitivity and concern for me, we have advanced and today’s youths are ready to defend [the revolution] and make sacrifices in various fields with much more strength than youths in the early years of the revolution.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned the profound and extensive strategic depth of the Islamic Republic in the world and especially in West Asia as one of the most important advances of Iran during the past four decades and noted, “The growing influence of Iran and support of [various] nations for the Islamic establishment is our strong backbone and this reality has enraged Americans, with their analysts seeking a way to counter the increasing influence of Iran.”

In conclusion of his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei described the Iranian nation’s advances and achievements as a sign of divine bounties and while urging officials to appreciate these bounties, emphasized, “The fulfillment of their heavy duties by officials is the real way to thank [God] for these bounties.”

At the beginning of his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution congratulated the attendees on the birth anniversary of Hadhrat Fatemeh Zahra (PBUH), and also commemorated the late head of Iran's Expediency Council, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani. Referring to effective and influential presence of Rafsanjani at the Assembly of Experts since the launch of the body, the Leader said, “The Late Mr. Rafsanjani was a valuable personality and among effective elements in the Islamic Republic establishment and the memory of this dear brethren will not be erased from my memory.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also commemorated the late Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Naqi Shahrokhi, the former representative of Lorestan province at the Assembly of Experts.

The Leader then touched upon sacrifices made by a group of Iranian firefighters, who recently put out a major blaze at a high-rise in downtown Tehran, noting, “These selfless people, who were mostly young, laid down their lives in order to protect the lives and properties of people. The existence of this spirit shows that under conditions, when such people and spirits are rare, the spirit of sacrifice is still alive in the country and among young people.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also thanked the chairman and representatives of the Assembly of Experts for activating various committees of the assembly.

A the beginning of the meeting, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, chairman of the Assembly of Experts, thanked the Leader of the Islamic Revolution for his guiding positions at critical junctures and said, “The Assembly of Experts considers it a duty to think revolutionary, remain revolutionary, and move along the path of the Islamic Revolution.”

Ayatollah Jannati emphasized, “Members of the Assembly of Experts are concerned about the cultural situation [in the country], the issue of cyberspace, and especially [about] the livelihood of people and economic conditions in the country.”

Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, vice-chairman of the Assembly of Experts, said for his part that the enemies seek to deal a blow to and dominate the revolution. He added, “Following the passing of Imam Khomeini, the Islamic Revolution preserved its goals and achievements as well as national solidarity and unity and has endowed Iran with unprecedented might and dignity in the region and the world.”

Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi then explained major topics of discussions during the second session of the fifth term of the Assembly of Experts. He mentioned “condemning the [post-election] sedition and agents of sedition,” “supporting the oppressed,” “countering oppression and defending the oppressed,” “the necessity of finding solutions to economic problems of the country and the problem of livelihood and joblessness of the youth,” “the need for more attention by the government to the Economy of Resistance,” “the importance of presidential and city council elections,” “the necessity for officials to lead a simple life,” “thanking the Iranian people and appreciating their magnificent presence in the epic demonstrations on Bahman 22 (February 10),” “emphasizing the need to follow up on the issue of unconventionally high salaries paid to some state officials,” “calling for attention to problems of the people in Khuzestan province,” “the need to maintain unity and empathy among various ethnic and religious groups,” “the importance of attention to threats and opportunities offered by cyberspace,” and “bolstering the jihadi spirit,” as the most important topics discussed in speeches given by the chairman and other members of the Assembly of Experts during its latest session.